František Kubíček, respected and versatile hydrobiologist as well as an excellent educator who significantly shaped the Brno hydrobiological school, passed away on February 7, 2025. The final farewell will take place on February 21, 2025, at 1:15 PM in the ceremonial hall of the crematorium at Jihlavská Street 1 in Brno.
*April 8, 1929
†February 7, 2025
RNDr. 1952, CSc. 1961, Associate Professor 1967, Professor 1991, Professor Emeritus 2000 (at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, 1952−2010).
He enrolled in university studies in 1948 at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, where he had to choose the only available option for studying zoology at the time—teacher training in Natural History and Geography. Already in his first year, he developed a deep interest in hydrobiology, which was then a marginal specialization. During his studies, he conducted research on sedimentation reservoirs of Brno waterworks. His rigorous thesis, titled Hydrobiological Research of Sedimentation Reservoirs of Brno Waterworks, was successfully defended in 1952, earning him the title of Doctor of Natural Sciences. The same year, he began working as an assistant at the Department of Zoology at the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, where under the guidance of Professor Hrabě, he continued and expanded hydrobiological research, particularly with his colleagues and friends Dr. Petr Marvan and Dr. Miloš Zelinka, then researchers at the T.G. Masaryk Water Research Institute in Brno. In 1962, he earned the title of Candidate of Sciences.
By the late 1950s, together with the aforementioned colleagues, he began focusing on the study of flowing waters and their pollution. Together, they published the handbook Assessment of Surface Water Purity (Silesian Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Opava, 1959), which became a foundation for saprobiological evaluation of surface waters. In the late 1960s, during a period of relative political liberalization, he was allowed to submit his habilitation thesis at Charles University in Prague, where he was appointed Associate Professor of Hydrobiology in 1967.
In 1965, Professor Hrabě and Associate Professor Kubíček founded the Laboratory for Flowing Water Research, initially recruiting Miloš Zelinka (from the T.G. Masaryk Water Research Institute) and Bohumil Losos from the University of Agriculture (now Mendel University) in Brno.
From the beginning, they promoted a comprehensive approach to researching flowing waters, incorporating algologist Jiří Helan (†1993) and collaborating closely with hydrologists, hydrochemists, and other specialists, primarily from the Water Research Institute. The laboratory participated in the International Biological Program (IBP), conducting unique studies on mountain and foothill streams and their pollution. Unfortunately, due to the well-known political normalization measures after 1968, the Faculty communist party organization recommended its dissolution, and in 1970, the University’s administration formally abolished the laboratory. Fortunately, thanks in part to Associate Professor Kubíček, the research focus and staff positions remained intact.
Kubíček and Zelinka then focused on studying the production conditions of the barbel zone of rivers, using the Jihlava River as a model. From 1980 to 1991, they also conducted research on minimum ecological flows and the impact of riverbed substrates on biota and production in watercourses. Their work led to the development of ecological flow standards, initially as recommendations and later incorporated into the State Water Management Plan and ultimately the Water Act.
In the new conditions after 1990, Kubíček initiated the re-establishment of the hydrobiological laboratory and returned to significant and traditional research topics, such as studying the effects of anomalous and regulated flows on benthic communities and their functions. Following previous studies on reservoirs from the 1960s and 1980s, he investigated the impact of the Vranov Reservoir’s hydroelectric operations (causing fluctuating daily flows) on the Dyje River within the Podyjí National Park.
When he was appointed University Professor in Hydrobiology at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague in 1991, he became even more involved in hydrobiology both at Masaryk University (MU) and Palacký University, as well as in broader academic circles. At his home institution, he chaired the doctoral study program council in hydrobiology. He was also a member of the same committee at the Faculty of Science, Palacký University, as well as the Scientific Council of the Institute of Zoology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava and the Academic Evaluation Board of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. From 1997, he taught hydrobiology at Palacký University for six years.
Between 1985−1988 and 1991−1994, he served as the chairman of the Czechoslovak (later Czech) Limnological Society, where he was now an honorary member. His contributions to the development of zoology and hydrobiology education were recognized with the Silver Medal for the 75th anniversary of Masaryk University. In 1999, he was named Professor Emeritus of Masaryk University, and in the same year, his lifelong achievements in zoology and hydrobiology were honored with Golden Medal of Masaryk University.
The medallion is taken from the chapter Hydrobiology in the book History written by scientists: Development of scientific disciplines at Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science (2022) Collective of authors. Brno: MUNIPRESS. ISBN: 978-80-280-0088-2.
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